THE LIPSTICK THEORY AND THE SMALLER LUXURIES IN LIFE

If you have been in the loop for TikTok and their newfound theories, you must have heard of the lipstick theory or the lipstick effect. It hypothesizes that during economic turbulence or recessions, consumers still spend money on small indulgences. Since they do not have enough to spend on big-ticket luxury items, such as real estate, cars, and trips, many still find the cash for purchases of small luxury items, such as expensive lipstick.

While the lipstick theory is just one in millions of unproven phenomena about consumer reactions to the economy, here at PETERMAYER, we have found evidence supporting this theory. Our Brand Joy Lab has spent the last year researching and we found consumers are increasingly relying on smaller luxuries to bring them joy.

Less and less are splurging on vacations and resorts, but the joys of snatching a great deal on a second-hand item or daily sweet treats are seeing great growth. While a majority of our data still points to families and friends, the reliance on daily and ordinary fun is remarkable.

So what exactly does this mean for brands? 

When promoting certain products, its important to keep in mind that the campaign we put out into the world is a vessel of culture. Throughout the history of advertisements, we see the impact of consumerism and commercials in the values of our society. Diamonds weren’t always the choice for engagement rings, and Americans weren’t always running on coffee. We shape our ways of thinking in the products we put out and the consistency of our messaging.

If there’s something we learned from the campaigns that came before us, it’s easy to make a grave mistake to your brand in just one advertisement. Brands and ad agencies should reflect on the current surrounding of their environment and how to bring these elements into their products. But is this as easy to do as to say?

Joy is a powerful emotions (trust us, we are not biased at all). Leveraging this emotions in your advertisements and campaigns is a both a public relations and profit strategy, both can bring in supporters and potential buyers. It might be hard to be the anchor of culture, but it’s easier to spark smaller joys. The smaller luxuries in question in some cases are not even monetary. Our answers revealed it could just be a great muffin, a funny TikTok, feeling inspired from seeing a great piece of art, picking up a hobby or reuniting with friends at an old joint. In the times of hustling and financial worries, these seemingly normal human pursuits are rare and more valuable than ever.

As brands, our end goal is to build loyalty in our customer base and what is better than to bring them the joys that have disappeared from their lives? Great campaigns bring more than tangible knowledge to their target audience, more than the physical spectacles. We build a persona, a dream and passions to our clients, inspiring them to invest in our brands, services and themselves.